January 28, 2010

The Sea

Okay, I realize that I've basically put up only music lately (see: every. time.), but... it's important that you hear it. That's my only justification. When I feel inspired by something other than music, I'll let you know. Now, shut up and listen to this immediately. It's incredible.

This first song is a cover that was attached to an LP released previously, but it's still one of my favorites. Led Zep:

Everything else is from her new album (released yesterday) and I've already basically dissected it. I literally couldn't wait. I could not wait (obviously). It's so great that I feel like I want to do it. You have no idea.

So. I felt like a lot of this album (obviously) had to do with her losing her husband recently. And I thought she wrote utterly beautiful songs about her feelings of loss and grief. They were actually my favorite (is that morbid?). "Are You Here" is probably my favorite. And don't be shy, crank it up:

"I'd Do It All Again" is another reflective song about a relationship that's passed. It was released as a single a few weeks ago, and I liked it immediately. I feel like her live performances really bring a lot to her music:

My favorite uptempo (not really, I guess) song is "Closer". It has a funky beat that's reminiscent of her first album without sounding like it's stuck back in 2006. My biggest issue was more about the tone of the uptempo songs rather than just the fact that they were uptempo. A few sounded too... happy? I can't think of the right word, but you know what I mean. Once you've set the tone of the album with the first few songs about grief it just feels awkward to have something so fast come immediately after. If you listen to the songs independently they're fine, but in the order that they're on in the album it just feels weird:

Just so it's here, this is "Paris Nights/ New York Mornings":

This is probably my second favorite track, "Love's On It's Way". She really ends the album on a hopeful, cleansing note. I think one of my favorite things about Corinne is how perfectly she times the music when she gets to the chorus. It just makes you stop everything that you're doing to listen, for even just a few seconds. She makes you listen. She'll be singing, but suddenly the background orchestration will die away and you'll find yourself straining to hear something, anything. And then there it is: